I DON'T MEAN TO BUT I LOVE YOU

twenty-six

Gabe stands in an empty parking lot. Dark storm clouds swirl in the sky above him, lightning illuminates them for a fleeting moment, thunder rumbles ominously, and the wind whips around him, blowing open his tattered Kappa jacket and exposing the dirt, sweat, and blood that stains the front of his shirt. His skin is hot, sticky with perspiration, but his blood is ice cold. His eyes are wide with fear as he looks towards a building in the middle of nowhere. The windows glow orange from the flames inside, smoke curls from the roof and makes the sky an even richer pitch of black, and an alarm coming from inside rings in Gabe's ears.

The burning building nor the storm is the scariest part though. What's really struck fear within Gabe's bones is what surrounds him. Bandit, Freddy, AJ, and Starfox's bodies lay twisted on the cracked pavement in pools of their own blood, eyes open and lifeless — all staring right at Gabe.

As another burst of thunder rattles the sky, Gabe turns his eyes towards the doors of The Facility just as Jarstin bursts from them. He looks like he's been through hell, but at least he's alive. Jarstin smiles at him, but Gabe can't bring himself to smile back. Maybe a part of Gabe wishes Jarstin had died inside of the building, at least then Gabe wouldn't have had to watch what comes next. He tries to open his mouth to warn Jarstin, but no sound comes out. He tries to scream, to move any part of his body, but he can't. He's frozen.

Instead, he has to watch as Bachelor, the same malevolent creature that murdered Bandit, Freddy, AJ, and Starfox, sneaks up behind Jarstin. He watches Jarstin go down without a fight, Bachelor punctures his chest with his fist, and yanks Jarstin's still beating heart right out of it. Gabe is screaming, but no sound is coming out, the only thing on his body that moves are the tears flowing freely down his cheeks. As Jarstin's dead body falls to the ground, Bachelor sneers at Gabe. Before the Kappa even has time to register it, Bachelor is lunging towards him, teeth bared and blue eyes glowing with what Gabe can only describe as pure evil.

A very exhausted Gabe shoots straight up in bed, breathless, and then lets out a frustrated groan as he finally registers that it's his alarm blaring, waking him from the twenty minute nap he was able to squeeze in before his next test — though he didn't even get the chance to get much sleep — it's not like he's been doing much of that lately anyway. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees that van pull up, those men in black, that explosion...Jarstin. It's been playing on a constant loop in his head for the last few days. Even when he is able to fall asleep, he just keeps dreaming about it, nightmares the always end up in death.

Rising from his bed, he grabs his backpack and tries to gather his notes that he had been studying. He checks his tired reflection in the mirror. Grabbing a bucket hat and pulling it down low, Gabe heads out for his last final exam of this semester. He's been able to avoid Jarstin, AJ, and even Starfox since the aftermath of the party. He isn't quite sure why he's been avoiding them, he just doesn't want to have to deal with what happened. He keeps telling himself that if he doesn't think about it, it'll just go away. It still haunts him in his dreams though, but that would happen regardless, right?

Plus, Gabe still doesn't trust Bachelor and he's still not over the sting from what the que did to him at the party.

Gabe thinks about what Taylor told him when he first found out that Gabe and Jarstin were fooling around. He said, "Look, Gabe, I'm being your friend when I tell you this: getting involved with Jarstin Forwood will be the biggest mistake of your life."

Now Gabe wishes he had listened.

-- -- --

Jarstin grunts as he exerts more effort, electric gaze pointed towards the ceiling as he pulls himself up until his chin goes past the bar. His arms are already sore from yesterday's similar routine, but he's been getting to a certain point where he doesn't even pay attention to the ache. He pushes air out through gritted teeth and finally let's go of the bar to land on his feet. Looking down at his sweaty hands, the Que looks up and catches his reflection in the window and that's all it truly takes for him to see it.